Newly promoted Padova were enduring a brutal introduction to life in Serie A. The first three games of their 1994/95 campaign had seen them concede ten goals without reply.
The Biancoscudati had been promoted by the narrowest of margins in the previous season, drawing 21 of their 38 games before winning their play-off on penalty kicks. During the summer, their all-Italian squad had been supplemented by the cosmopolitan signings of American international Alexi Lalas and young Croatian forward Goran Vlaovic. Yet the new-look team were struggling at both ends of the pitch.
The Coppa Italia competition provided scant relief from Padova’s Serie A travails. They suffered a 3-0 first-leg reversal at the hands of Inter. With the tie all but decided at the halfway point, Padova trudged west to Milan to contest the return fixture.
Expectations for a competitive and entertaining football match were low and the paying public had voted with their feet. On a clement autumn evening, a tiny crowd of 1,200 were rattling around the San Siro. That total included Aston Villa manager Ron Atkinson, who was casing out Inter ahead of their UEFA Cup encounter.
Embed from Getty ImagesNotwithstanding Inter’s first-leg advantage, coach Ottavio Bianchi was taking no chances with his team selection. Italian internationals Gianluca Paglicuca and Giuseppe Bergomi were marshalling Inter’s back line, whilst Dutch master Wim Jonk anchored the midfield. The sight of Dennis Bergkamp and Darko Pancev on the team-sheet would have filled Padova with a sense of impending doom.
Inter piled on the pressure during the opening exchanges. However, through a combination of Nerazzurri wastefulness – Pancev a key culprit – and the alertness of Adriano Bonaiuti in the Padova goal, the game remained goalless.
The scale of Padova’s challenge multiplied when Massimiliano Rosa was shown the red card. Marco Delvecchio escaped down the left-hand side for Inter, but as he converged on goal, Rosa’s desperate lunge sent him sprawling. Padova had a mountain to climb – and they were going about it the hard way.
Despite their numerical disadvantage, Padova continued to cause Inter problems on the break. Pagliuca had to fully extend himself to turn Roberto Putelli’s rasping free-kick around the post.
As half-time beckoned, Padova hooked a hopeful ball into the box. Pagliuca came out to collect, but the ball slipped from his grasp under an aerial challenge. As Inter’s players (and the cameraman) stopped in anticipation of the referee’s whistle, Alexi Lalas prodded the ball into the unguarded net.
Nobody was more surprised than the American when the goal was awarded.
After their goalless start to the season, the relief was palpable for Padova. As Pagliuca and his Inter colleagues surrounded the referee, Lalas was mobbed by his team-mates. The Bianocscudati had their noses in front, but could the ten men see it out?
The second half followed much the same pattern as the first, with Padova pegged back in their own half. However, Bonaiuti was in inspired form, first, repelling a long-range drive from Bergkamp and then deflecting Pancev’s smart header from the top corner.
Inter’s golden opportunity to draw level came when Davide Fontolan stretched to meet a cross inside the six-yard box. He connected, but somehow contrived to send the ball over the crossbar, much to the relief of the helpless goalkeeper.
Padova valiantly closed out the tie to secure a heroic victory, their first over Inter in over thirty years.
The fact that so few were present to witness it hardly mattered. Padova were out, but not down. The surge of confidence from this battling Coppa Italia victory marked a turning point in Padova’s league campaign.
Over the course of the 2023/24 season, we’ll be following Padova as they fight for promotion from Serie C. Stay tuned to calcioengland.com our socials to keep up to date. And we’ll return to the story of Padova’s 1994/95 season in future editions of Classic Encounters.
Calcio England 
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